Letter-file.



No. 752,2I7. "Patented Oct. 28, |902, F.`TRAMBLAY.

LETTER FILE.'-

(Application filled Jan. 8, 1902.)

Nn Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FELIX TRAMBLAY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LETTER-NLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters' Patenelvo. 712,217, dated october 2e, 1902. Application tiled January 6, 1902. Serial No. 88 ,498. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.:

Be it known that I, FELIX TEAMBLAY, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and use- -ful Improvements in Letter-Files; and I do This invention'relates to improvements in that class of temporary-'nies for letters and other papers which comprises a shallow box` or receptacle provided with a number of index-sheets secured to a common fastening or holding device which is removably attached to the end wall of the receptacle in such manner that said device and the index-sheets secured thereto may be removed as a whole from the receptacle, said receptacle also being provided with a spring-pressed bail normally serving to hold the index-sheets and papers which may be placed between the samein place, but adapted to-be thrown upwardly at will to permit free access to such papers when desired.

The invention relates more specifically to an improved device Lfor holding the indexsheets in place,` to the tabs by which the index-sheets are connected with said fastening device, and to improvements in the bail-actuating spring and means for connecting the same with the bail.

The invention consists of the matters hereinafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. I

In the drawings, Figure l is a fragmentary plan View of a file-case embodying the improvements constituting my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section thereof looking toward the rear of the case. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line-3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the device for holding the'index-leaves in place, said device being removed from the box. Fig. 5 is a crosssection taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6

Aillustrates a fragment of the rear margin of one of the index-leaves, showing the tab by which the same is connected with the attaching device shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a secthe receptacle as a whole, usually made in I the form of a shallow drawer or tray open at its top and at one end and in practicea number of which are commonly inserted within a suitable le case or cabinet. As herein shown, said receptacle comprises a back wall A', two side walls A2 A2,' and a bottom wall A3.

B B designate a plurality of index sheets or leaves which form what is known as an expansible index provided with index letters or characters and between which the papers to be filed are placed. Said leaves are provided at their rear margins with tabs B', which are apertured and which have sliding engagement with a holding bar or stripC', forming part of a fastening or holding device (designated as a whole by C) which is secured in a recess a., formed in the back wall A of the receptacle.

D designatesl a spring-pressed bail, which normally presses downwardly on the indexsheets to holdfthe said sheets and the papers between the same in place. Said bailis hinged at its ends to the rear wall of the receptacle and is placed under the influence of a spring or springs, which act to hold the same in its downward position, said springs also being connected with the bail' in suchv manner as to holdthe bail in its-uppermost position when thrown upwardly or backwardly. Said indexsheet-holding device consists,as herein shown, of a closed rectangular loop having side members C2 C2 and transverse end members C3 C3, to the lower one of which is attached the holding-bar C. Said holding-bar C is made of two parallel members or parts c c, as indicated in Fig. 5, said parts being preferably made of half-round wire, with the ['lat sides placed together, thereby giving cylindric form to the holding-bar as a Whole. The upper transverse member of the loop is provided with an inwardly-extending part C4, which is formed to provide rearwardly-opening notches, which are adapted to receive the free ends of the members constituting the holdingbar C to lock the latter in place. Preferably the entire attaching device C is made of a single metal strip or piece of Wire, the middle portion of which is bent to form the part IOO C4, having the form of a loop and constructed y to form rearwardly-opening notches, and the end portions of which are brought together to form the holding-bar C', upon which the tabs of the index-leaves vare secured. The ends of the members c constituting said holding-bar are shown as bent outwardly at their upper parts at divergent angles, so as to separately enter the rearwardly-opening notches of the loop C4. Both of said ends of the wire constituting the holdingbar C may, however, occupy one of the rearwardly-opening notches. Said fastening devicev is desirably made of springwire,and the resiliency of said wire tends to hold the members constituting the bar in place, while permitting the same to be thrust rearwardly and laterally to disengage them from and to place them in engagement with said notches. When a sheet is to be placed on the holding-bar or removed therefrom, the two parts of the bar are disengaged from the notch or notches in the head C4 and brought in front of the head to permit such removal or replacement of the sheets. The recess a opens upwardly, and the fastening device is secured in the recess a, by inserting the side members in undercut grooves at the side of said recesses, as indicated in Figs. l and 2, and said device is held in place by frictional contact of said side member with the Walls of said grooves.

The tabs B', as herein shown, consisteach of a single piece of flexible material-such as paper, fiber, linen,or the like-which is folded between its ends and the two parts of which are applied over and pasted to the opposite faces of the sheet. The folded part of said tab extends beyond the margin of the sheet and is provided with an aperture b, adapted to receive the guide-bar C'. In order to strengthen the folded part of the tab and prevent the same from tearing out, a straight reinforcing strip or wire B2 is placed between the folds of the tab and in rear of the aperture b, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The location of this strip or wire in the fold of said tab brings the same into contact with the holding-bar C of the fastening device and distributes the strain brought on said tab in handling the index-leaves practically on all parts of the fold of the tab instead of at its point of contact only, as would he true if said reinforcing strip or wire b were omitted.

Next referring to the manner of hinging the bail to the rear wall of the receptacle and the construction of the bail-actuating spring and its connection with the bail, these parts are made as follows: Said bail is provided at its rear ends with inwardly-projecting bearing parts or trunnions d, which enter bearingthimbles or bushings a', Fig. 3, which are seated in horizontal sockets extending laterally inwardly from Vertical openings A4, formed in the rear wall of the box and open at their upper ends. Said openings A4 are located a distance inside the end margins of the wall A', and in order to provide means for forming the sockets in which the ends of the bail and bearing-thimbles therefor are seated inwardly-directed openings a2 are formed in said end wall of the box, the same extending inwardly from the outer end margins thereof, as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, for the purpose of permitting a suitable boring-tool to pass through the openings A4 to form said sockets. The upper ends of said vertical openings open forwardly into the interior of the case and receive the rear hinged ends of the bail, while the lower parts of said openings, as herein shown, are not open to the interiorof the box and are adapted to receive parts of the bail-actuating connections. The upper parts of the front walls of the openings A4 are cut away suiiiciently to permit freedom of movement of the bail ends when the bail occupies its lowermost position. The bail ends are provided, outside their pivotal connections with the end wall A', with crank portions d', and said crank portions are connected by means of links E with bailac tuating springs F F, secured in horizontal recesses a3 in the rear wall of the receptacle. Said springs F have the form of leaf-springs and occupy when the bail is thrown downwardly generally horizontal positions. The side walls of each vertical opening A4 are cut away to aord communication of the adjacent horizontal recess d3 therewith and to allow the outer end of the spring F therein to extend into said vertical opening in position for engagement with the link E. The inner ends of the recesses a3 are narrowed, so that the springs it snugly therein. Said springs are attached to the Walls of the recesses in `any suitable manner. As herein shown, said inner ends of the springs are bent downwardly to form lugs which are seated in notches opening upwardly into the inner or narrow portions of said recesses co3. The outer ends of said recesses d3, adjacent to the vertical openings A4, are widened to permit the free ends of the springs F to rise when the bailis thrown upwardly. The upper walls of said widened outer portions of the recesses a3 are curved upwardly and outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, and the springs F when the bail is thrown upwardly conform to such curved upper walls of the recesses, whereby the tension of said springs is increased as they approach the upper limits of their movement. The cranks d of the bails are so formed and the links E, which connect the same with the actuatingsprings, are so located with respect to said cranks that before the said bail reaches its ultimate or rearmost position it passes the center of oscillation of the bail, whereby the tension of the said springs is exerted to hold the bail open, as is common in this class of bail-actuating devices.

The springs F are seated entirely within the recesses a3, and desirably plates G are applied over said recesses, as shown at the righthand side of Fig. 2 and in Fig. 3, the plate at the left-hand side of Fig. 2 being omitted. Said plates are provided for the purpose of concealing said springs and preventing the papers filed between the index-leaves from IOD IIO

becoming entangled with.y said springs in the operation thereof., Obviously if the back wallof the case be provided with a veneer finish the recesses for the springs may be formed in the outer side of the wall and concealed by the veneer finish. Other changes in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do not wish to be limited to such structural details except as hereinafter made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my invention- 1. A holding device for index-sheets provided at its upper end with a forwardly-projecting part having two laterally-separated, rearwardly-opening notches and at its lower end a forwardly and upwardly projecting split or two-part bar, the upper or free ends of the parts of said bar being adapted to interlock with said rearwardly-opening notches.

2. A holding device for index-sheets consisting of parallel side members and transverse end members, the upper transverse end member being formed to provide a forwardlyprojecting part having acentral shank and a widened end and provided at the sideof the shank with two rearwardly-opening notches, and the lower transverse member being provided with a forwardly and upwardly projected split or two-part bar, the upper or free ends of the parts of said bar being adapted to interlock with said rearwardly-opening notches.

3. A holding device for file-cases comprising a single piece of wire bent at its middle part to form a forwardly-projecting loop provided with two laterally separated, rearwardly -opening notches, and the ends of which Wire are brought together to form a two-part bar, said ends being adapted to enter and interlock with said notches.

4. The combination with a file-case, of a holding device for the index-sheets thereof consisting of parallel side members and transverse end members, the upper transverse end member being constructed to form a forwardly-projecting part having laterally-separated, rearWardlj-opening notches, and the lower transverse member being provided with a forwardlyand upwardly projecting split or two-part bar, the upper or free ends of the parts of which are adapted to interlock with said rearwardly-opening notches.

5. A holding device for file-cases comprising a single piece of wire bent at its middle part to form a forwardly-projecting loop provided with a rearwardly-opening notch, the ends of said wire being brought together to form a two-part bar upon Which the indexleaves are adapted to be strung.

6. The combination with a file-case and a bail provided at its rear end with a laterallydirected hinge projection or stud, the rear wall of the case being provided with a vertical opening and with a horizontallyarranged socket which intersects said opening near the upper end of the latter, of a bearing-thimble or bushing which receives said hinge projection of the bail and is seated in said socket.

7. The combination with a file-case provided in its wall with a horizontal socket and with a generally horizontal spring-receiving recess, and a bail provided at its rear end with a laterally-directed hinge projection or stud which is seated in said horizontal socket, and provided adjacent to its hinge with a crank, of a leaf-spring occupying said horizontal spring-receiving recess, and a link connected at one end with the free end of said spring and at its other end with the crank of the bail, the top wall of the outer end of said recess being curved upwardly and outwardly.

8. The combination with a file-case and a bail hinged at its rear end to the rear wall of the'case and provided adjacent to its hinge with a crank, said rear wall of the case beingprovided with a vertical recess or opening and with a generally horizontal recess intersecting said vertical recess or opening, of a leaf-spring in said horizontal recess attached at one end to the said rear wall of the case and at its other end projecting into said vertical recess or opening, and a link in said vertical recess or opening attached at one end to the free end of said spring and at its other end to the crank of the bail.

9. The combination with a file-case'and a bail provided at its end with a laterally-directed hinge projection or stud and with a crank portion, the rear wall of the case being provided between the front and rear sides of the wall with a vertical opening, with a horizontal socket intersecting said opening near the upper end of the latter to receive the bailhinge projection, and with a horizontal recess intersecting the opening near the lower end of the latter, of a spring seated in said recess and projecting into said opening and a link in said opening-connecting said spring with the bail-crank, the rear wall between' the upper end of said vertical opening and the interior of the case being broken away to provide space for the bail-crank.

10. The combination with a file-case and a bail provided at its end with a laterally-directed hinge projection or stud, and with a crank portion, the rear Wall of the case being provided with a vertical opening and with a horizontally-arranged socket which intersects said opening near the top of the latter, and also With a horizontally-arranged recess which intersects said opening near the bottom of the latter, of a bearing-thimble or bushing which receives said hinge projection of the bail and seated in said socket, a spring seated in said horizontal lrecess and projecting into saidv vertical opening, and a link connecting the free end of the spring with the bail-crank.

1l. The combination with a file-case and a bail hinged at its rear end to the rear wall of the case and provided adjacent to its hinge with a crank, said rear wall of the case *being provided witha vertical recess or opening and with a generally horizontal recess intersect- ICO IIO

ing said vertical recess or opening, of a leafspring in said horizontal recess attached at one end to the rear Wall of the case and having its other or free end projecting into said vertical recess or opening, a link in said vertical recess or opening attached at one end to the free end of said spring and at its other end to the crank of the bail, and a plate covering said horizontal recess.

12. An index-sheet for file-cases provided with an attaching-tab consisting of a strip of flexible material which is folded up0n itse1f and the ends of Which are pasted to the opposite faces of the sheet, said folded portion of the tab projecting` beyond the margin of the sheet and being.,r provided with an aperture,

ary, A. D. 1902.

FELIX TRAMBLAY. Witnesses:

C. CLARENCE POOLE, M. L. PRICE. 

